


Trick and Treat

by aestia



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Attempt at Humor, Halloween, Love at First Sight, M/M, Mild Language, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:47:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26001394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aestia/pseuds/aestia
Summary: Wait.That was a fucking horseshoe crab on his doorstep, and the thing was enormous. That could fit a person under it — that was a person. There was a person underneath that.[¬º-°]¬The last thing Sicheng expected to see on Halloween night was an enormous horseshoe crab sitting in front of his door. Thank god the guy under it was cute.
Relationships: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Nakamoto Yuta, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 58





	Trick and Treat

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome! I know it's August but I wanted to write this so take my child.

Halloween was an event that Sicheng usually never really looked forward to. The trick-or-treating aspect had always been too much for him: needing to choose something to dress up as, then walking around the whole neighborhood in the costume and going to strangers’ houses to beg for candy that was always too sweet. And the candy wasn’t even safe to eat sometimes. It was just more work than Sicheng would ever want to put into anything. And now that he was fifteen and had just started high school, he would rather spend the night at home studying (read: playing games, but his parents didn’t need to know that).

Luckily for Sicheng, his parents loved the holiday so much that every year, they would go to a friend’s house for their annual Halloween party, and to make things even better, they never forced him to go, meaning he would be alone for almost the entire night. As the years passed, his parents came back later and later, and maybe this year, they wouldn’t come home until after midnight, giving Sicheng about six hours of pure gaming. He was definitely looking forward to Halloween this year, even if it was for the wrong reasons most people did. 

Sicheng had been planning to leave out a bowl of candy on the front steps like he did every year, but his dad ripped his fantasy apart.

“Oh, Sicheng,” Sicheng looked away from the bowl that was now filled to the brim with assorted chocolate candies. “This year, hand the candy out personally, alright?” 

Sicheng’s heart stopped. No way was he going to do that. Human interaction? He thought not. “Why? What if I open the door and it’s a serial killer? Isn’t it safer to just leave the candy on the doorstep?” Sicheng protested. 

“That’s what the peephole is for. You don’t socialize enough, Sicheng. The least you can do is give kids candy.” His dad said, no room in his voice for any more argument. Sicheng didn’t usually get mad at his dad, but this was so messed up. Not only would he be subject to being killed, he wouldn’t be able to game for nearly as long as he wanted to, always being interrupted by some stupid brat in a cat or superhero costume. 

Sicheng bit his tongue and didn’t say anything, resigning himself to a night of suffering and putting the candy bowl on the shoe shelf right next to the front door. His mom gave him a sympathetic smile before leaving, but she didn’t say anything against his dad’s orders. 

“This is bullshit.” Sicheng mumbled to himself once the door locked. “This is complete and utter bullshit.”

[¬º-°]¬

The first few hours of the night went okay. There were no serial killers, but there was a kid who had chosen to dress up as Junko from Danganronpa, and that kind of counted (although what kind of parents let their kid know anything about Danganronpa??). He originally planned on giving the first few kids all the candy they had so he could run out and be free from the burden of handing stuff out, but something in his heart told him that that was an asshole move, so Sicheng didn’t. 

It had been a while since anyone had come, so Sicheng figured that it was safe to go up to his room, shower, and then log on. But of course, the universe seemed to hate him tonight, and the doorbell rang as soon as he reached the top of the stairs. _Goddamn,_ Sicheng thought. _It’s almost nine and there are still people out? It honestly might be a serial killer._ Sicheng swore, if he opened that door and found a chainsaw murderer or a clown, he would let them bash his head in. He wasn’t in the mood to fight back against someone like that. 

Cursing silently under his breath as he went back down the stairs, Sicheng grabbed the candy bowl and peered through the peephole. The motion-activated lights outside the door were on, showing that someone was there, but all Sicheng could see was a large gray dot on the ground. 

Wait.

That was a fucking horseshoe crab on his doorstep, and the thing was enormous. That could fit a person under it — that was a person. There was a person underneath that. Sicheng could see the feet now. What insane kid would dress as a horseshoe crab for Halloween?

Sicheng mentally groaned, but opened the door nonetheless. “Good evening?” He said to the animal. Sicheng was expecting there to be a little boy under the costume, probably grinning ear to ear at his cleverness and then demanding Sicheng give him candy, but the shell tilted up, and Sicheng was shocked at the face that was smiling at him. 

It _was_ a boy, who _was_ grinning ear to ear, just like Sicheng predicted, but his gaze was sparkling like God had created an entire separate universe just to put its stars in this stranger’s eyes. His mouth was pulled across his face in the most dazzling smile that Sicheng had ever seen, even including all the models that were on the internet, and behind his lips were pearly white teeth that could definitely be in a toothpaste commercial. The boy’s hair was tousled from being underneath his costume, but it looked good on him. Like he was just a kid with no worries in the world other than getting Sicheng’s candy. 

Sicheng had to fight a blush from blooming on his face as he stared at the trick-or-treater. “Did I surprise you?” The boy sounded more like a teen, maybe someone around Sicheng’s age, but his tone suggested that he was definitely on the playful side of the spectrum. His arms were folded underneath him, protecting his chin from the concrete, and he gazed at Sicheng like he had offered him a million dollars. It was so incredibly cute, and Sicheng forced himself to take a shaky breath. 

“You did.” When Sicheng said that, the boy’s smile spread even farther, which Sicheng hadn’t even thought possible. He could feel the joy through the screen door, like this stranger was the living incarnation of happiness. How could someone have so much cheerfulness in their body? It was like coming face to face with a cheerleader, except this boy’s glee was genuine. 

“Do you like my costume? Look, I can roll!” To prove his point, the boy unfolded his arms and pushed against the ground, sending him back, and Sicheng could hear the rumble of the wheels underneath the costume. 

“It’s very cool.” Sicheng stated, because it was, in all honesty, pretty cool. You would have to be crazy to wear it in public, but it was clever. 

The boy stopped himself from rolling back any further and pushed himself back to Sicheng’s doorstep. “Anyways, trick-or-treat! What’s your name?” 

Sicheng hesitated before answering. If this was a serial killer, then he wouldn’t mind being killed by someone so cute. “I’m Sicheng.” He replied, finally stepping outside of the house. 

“Nice to meet you, Sicheng! I’m Yuta! I would shake your hand, but it’s a little hard to get my arms out from under here.” Yuta laughed sheepishly, and Sicheng chuckled a little bit. 

“That’s alright. How have you been getting your candy?” Sicheng inspected the costume to look for anything that could hold candy. Or maybe a friend had been holding onto it for him?

“Oh!” Yuta’s face disappeared back under the costume, and Sicheng would be lying if he dreaded even a second of seeing Yuta lost. It wasn’t often he got to see someone this good-looking, after all. 

A moment later, a panel popped up near the side of the horseshoe crab costume, and Yuta’s face emerged again. Sicheng looked under the panel, where there was a large container attached to the underside of the costume. There were a few pieces of candy in it already. 

“You really thought of everything.” Sicheng breathed as he grabbed a handful of M&M’s packets from the bowl and dropped them into the holder. Yuta grinned again. 

“I thought of everything except for something that would let me stick my arms out. I’m kind of cramped.” Yuta admitted. “And it’s hard to open the candy holders from the inside. I had a friend to open it for me earlier, but he was too slow for my wheels.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t been run over yet.” Sicheng said, looking out at the street. It was late, but there was always somebody out. 

“I have pretty good luck, what can I say? I even got to meet you.” Yuta said it like he didn’t even realize his words until voices came out of the darkness. 

“Oh, dude, he’s flirting.” A teen dressed in a shrimp suit came towards Sicheng and Yuta. 

“Yuta, I leave you for a minute and you’re already flirting with someone. I’m disgusted.” Another boy wearing an enormous and obnoxious fish costume stepped into the light, followed by two others with crab and lobster suits. It seemed that Yuta was the only one whose costume wasn't pure fabric. 

“Trick or treat!” The crab and lobster said in unison. The crab had bright red hair, and the lobster was sporting a brown undercut. 

“You haven’t been giving him trouble, have you?” Fish Man kicked Yuta’s costume, and Yuta shook his head furiously. 

“Absolutely not. I think. Have I?” Yuta looked at Sicheng expectantly, and even if he wanted to, Sicheng couldn’t say yes to the face that Yuta was giving him.

“Of course not.” Sicheng replied quickly. 

“Good, we’d have to skin him alive if he did. Anyways, please give us sustenance, oh god of the candy bowl.” Crab Man held out a pillowcase for Sicheng, and the other three did the same. Sicheng stared at them in mild concern as he gave them each a handful of various chocolates. They were definitely high schoolers. Only high schoolers could be this weird yet polite at the same time. It was strange that Sicheng had never seen any of them around before. 

Although, the boy with the undercut looked awfully familiar. It was a stab in the dark, but Sicheng decided to do it. “Excuse me, are you Taeil?” Lobster Man jerked his head away from his pillowcase to look at Sicheng. 

“Yeah,” Taeil studied Sicheng’s face with furrowed brows before his eyes lit up. “Sicheng! Oh my god! I almost didn’t recognize you!” Crab Man, Fish Man, Shrimp Man, and Yuta all looked at Taeil, confused, and Taeil quickly clarified.

“We went to the same elementary school.” Turning back to Sicheng, Taeil punched Sicheng’s shoulder. “You didn’t keep in touch, butthead.”

“I tried! But middle school was a lot busier than I thought it would be!” Sicheng defended himself. 

“Sorry to interrupt your happy little reunion, but Dad says we have to go home now.” Shrimp Man said, putting his phone back in his pillowcase. Yuta and Taeil groaned. 

“Wait, before we go, introduce yourselves.” Taeil instructed the other three. Fish Man’s name was Doyoung, Crab Man was Taeyong, and Shrimp Man was Mark. Simple enough for Sicheng to remember. It really was weird that he had never seen any of them around school before. 

After Sicheng and Taeil exchanged numbers, Sicheng gave them the rest of the candy in the bowl and got a few pictures of Yuta’s costume (he snuck a few of the rest of them, because it’s not everyday you meet a group of friends dressed as seafood). Then the group started to leave. But before Yuta turned around, he looked up at Sicheng. “Bye, Sicheng!” It was a simple farewell, and Sicheng grinned at him. 

“Bye, Yuta.” Sicheng waved at the boy, and as Yuta rolled away, Sicheng realized that for the first time in his life, he was glad that his parents forced him out of his room.

[¬º-°]¬

Since Halloween had been a Friday, Sicheng was able to spend the rest of his weekend in his room, doing absolutely nothing but glue his eyes to his computer monitor — well, that and thinking about how insanely beautiful Yuta’s eyes and smile were, how cheerfully he had talked to Sicheng. how innocently he had said ‘bye’, and how happy he had been when Sicheng put a large portion of the leftover candy in his candy containers — but mostly gaming. He had to take his mind off it somehow. He wasn’t about to spend the rest of his life thinking about some idiot in a horseshoe crab costume.

Monday came like it always did, bringing storm clouds to fog up Sicheng’s mind. He wanted nothing more than to curl up with his phone and Mango, his chicken comfort stuffed animal that had been with him for ten years. He hated school, he hated his teachers, he hated the work, he hated the people who were in his class who were so obnoxious and loud and never shut up. He hated everyone at this godforsaken— 

“Sicheng!”

It wasn’t often that someone called his name in the halls, especially in the morning, so Sicheng turned around to find the owner of the voice, although he had known who it was from the first syllable. 

Farther behind him was Yuta. Without the enormous shell on his back and skateboard strapped to his chest, Sicheng could finally see exactly how gorgeous Yuta was in proper lighting. His skin was much lighter than it had been Friday night, and his hair was light brown and long. It was being held back by a few bobby pins that sparkled as Yuta ran towards Sicheng. 

Why was he running towards Sicheng?

Sicheng had to stop himself from flinching away as Yuta stopped mere inches away from him. The space between them was too close for comfort, but even if Sicheng was a little uncomfortable at Yuta’s friendliness, the glimmer in his eyes was more than worth it. 

“How was your weekend, Yuta?” Sicheng asked politely, and Yuta took a step back, rolling his eyes and groaning. 

“It was good, but so much candy. I don’t think I ever want to eat another piece again.” For some reason, Sicheng felt a little guilty at hearing that. Maybe it was because he had given Yuta so much. Whatever the reason, Sicheng couldn’t help but feel that it was his fault that Yuta had had such a sugar-filled weekend. “What about you?”

“I had fun.” Sicheng replied simply. He left out that Yuta now lived in his mind rent-free. That would be a little weird for a second encounter. 

“Yuta, don’t bother the poor boy first thing in the morning.” A hand shot to Yuta’s head, pressing down on it like a button. When Yuta had shrunk to the ground a little, mumbling ‘ow’ repeatedly, Sicheng could see Doyoung gripping Yuta’s skull like he was trying to crush it. 

“Good morning, Sicheng.” Taeil walked out from behind Yuta, a hand covering his yawn. 

“Morning.” Sicheng said back, bowing slightly to Taeil, who grinned at Sicheng with sleepy eyes. “Good morning, Doyoung.” 

“Good morning, Sicheng. He wasn’t being a nuisance, right?” Doyoung gave Yuta’s head one final squeeze before letting go and slinging an arm over Yuta’s shoulders. Yuta popped back up, unaffected by the fact that Doyoung was trying to crack his skull. 

“No. You asked if he was being annoying last time too. Is he usually annoying?” Sicheng asked, a little concerned, but a little part of his brain said that if Yuta was annoying, then he could finally move out of Sicheng’s mind. 

“I guess. Considering how he basically hit on you on Friday, I figured I should make sure he isn’t being too overbearing. He tends to say whatever’s on his mind. Get a filter, dude.” Doyoung scolded Yuta, who threw his head back in laughter. Doyoung looked back at Sicheng with a sigh. “You’re okay though, right?” Ah, right. Sicheng had been desperately trying to forget Yuta’s little remark from Friday. How he said he was lucky and then following it up by saying that he indeed was because he met Sicheng. How rude (rude because now Yuta had taken up half of his thoughts).

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Sicheng said. “Where are Taeyong and Mark?”

“Mark’s still in middle school, and Yong’s late, as always.” Taeil scoffed quietly. “It’s okay. What class do you have?” 

“English.” Sicheng replied. “What about you guys?”

“I got World History, Doyoung has Health, and Taeil has Biology. Hey, I can walk with you to the English hallway!” Sicheng could feel Yuta’s energy spike through the space between them. He just gave off so much happiness, it was unreal. Sicheng had never met someone with so much joy in their body. He had always thought that meeting someone who was just happy all the time would be annoying, but Yuta was definitely not what he had been expecting. Although, Yuta was just an enormous surprise in general. Not many people would think of being a horseshoe crab for Halloween.

“Alright. I guess I’ll see you two another time?” Sicheng said to Doyoung and Taeil, and they both shot back a thumbs-up before Yuta was grabbing Sicheng’s hand. Sicheng thought his heart would leap out of his body. It was throbbing almost painfully in his chest, and he was sure that his face matched Taeyong’s hair color right now. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t calm himself, especially when Yuta looked back with a grin too wide for the time. 

But as soon as Yuta looked back, he caught a glimpse of Sicheng’s face, which he was sure looked pretty uncomfortable, and then his eyes went down to their joined hands. The smile disappeared, and with it, Yuta’s hand. 

“S-Sorry. I’m used to being touchy with my friends. I can stop.” Dejection was clear in Yuta’s voice, although it seemed like he was trying to hide it. And while Sicheng had been a little flustered at the contact, he found himself feeling a little down too, now that Yuta was no longer holding his hand. 

“It’s okay. I was just surprised. You can be touchy. I just need to get used to it.” Sicheng smiled at Yuta, and he hoped that it didn’t look too awkward. It must’ve not looked as awkward as Sicheng felt, but Yuta was returning the smile in no time, and then as they continued walking, Yuta glanced back down at Sicheng’s hand. With a small chuckle, Sicheng held his hand out to Yuta, and Yuta’s endless joy reappeared through the glitter in his eyes as he took Sicheng’s hand in his again. Sicheng had seen it numerous times, but those stars never failed to surprise him.

“Yo, lovebirds, wanna walk a little faster?” Sicheng would recognize that voice from anywhere, but Yuta looked behind him to see who it was. Sicheng didn’t bother acknowledging them, simply saying to Yuta ‘You don’t have to go faster. He just has a stick up his ass because I destroyed him in Valorant yesterday’. 

Jaehyun let out an indignant squawk. “You did not _destroy_ me. I just let you win.” 

“Right, go ahead and believe that.” Sicheng rolled his eyes at Jaehyun’s denial of the facts as Yuta watched them curiously.

“Do you two know each other?” Yuta asked slowly.

“I wish sometimes I didn’t.” Jaehyun was sticking his tongue out at Sicheng’s back right now, Sicheng could feel it in his bones. He had known Jaehyun since birth. They were practically telepathic by now. 

“Same here.” Sicheng said, but that was a complete lie. They had been best friends for so long, and somewhere along the way, they had picked up the habit of bickering with each other sometimes, but both of them knew that deep down, they were brothers. 

“Is- You guys are joking, right? There’s nothing bad here?” Yuta asked, and it was so innocent and sweet that Sicheng had to smile again. 

“No, I hate his guts.” Jaehyun insisted, but when Yuta looked to Sicheng for confirmation, Sicheng mouthed ‘everything’s okay’, earning him a relieved grin. “Where’d you find this absolute unit, Cheng? Never pegged you for the social type.” 

“Found him on my doorstep, half-dead. I had to nurse him back to life with a single Band-Aid and four M&M’s.” Sicheng replied without missing a beat, finally turning around to look at Jaehyun. Yuta’s eyebrows shot up in confusion as he eyed Sicheng with something akin to shock in his eyes. “I’m joking.” 

“Well, you have to tell me the truth during homeroom. You’re not getting away, you stupid hoe.” Jaehyun said, and then he turned into the language hallway. Sicheng was kind of not looking forward to saying that he met Yuta while the latter was dressed like a sea animal. 

“Who was that?” Yuta asked, curiosity replacing the surprise from a second before. 

“Jaehyun’s my best friend. We just have a special way of talking to each other. Kind of like you and Doyoung, except we don’t try to crush each other’s heads.” Sicheng explained, coming to a stop outside his English classroom. “Hey, don’t you have to get to class?” 

“I guess I do. But—” Whatever Yuta was trying to say got cut off by the shrill ringing of the bell. 

“We can talk later, okay? Don’t be late.” Sicheng pulled his hand away from Yuta’s and instantly regretted it because of the way that Yuta drooped. “You have to go.” Sicheng had to push Yuta in the direction of the History hallway. 

“Bye, Sicheng.” The tone was so different from when Yuta had last said bye that Sicheng was tempted to skip class and go hangout with Yuta, but he knew he couldn’t. 

“Bye, Yuta.” Sicheng waved goodbye, and then he went into the classroom. Ten was grinning at him from his seat, and Sicheng pulled out the chair, dreading the next hour and a half. 

[¬º-°]¬

First period was bad enough with Ten pestering Sicheng about everything, from Sicheng and Yuta holding hands to Yuta’s obvious dejection over having to leave, but that was definitely not the worst it could get, since homeroom had not only Jaehyun, but Johnny, who seemed like he dedicated his life to teasing Sicheng over anything he could (it was all jokes though, Sicheng would’ve drop kicked him into next year if he ever crossed the line), and Kun. Kun was okay though. 

Judging by the look they gave him when he walked into the classroom, Jaehyun had told them about Yuta. Sicheng groaned internally and turned around, but before he could make a run for it, the bell rang, and Johnny and Jaehyun were grabbing his wrists and pulling him to the group of desks that they had claimed for themselves. 

Once Sicheng was seated and their teacher had taken attendance, Johnny, Kun, and Jaehyun smirked simultaneously in Sicheng’s direction, and now, Sicheng’s moan was finding its way out of his mouth. 

“So, who’s this stranger?” Kun asked, a glint in his eyes that was so different from Yuta’s. Sicheng hated it. 

“A friend of mine.” Sicheng clipped, because that’s all they were. He could understand why they were so interested — it wasn’t often that Sicheng made a new friend, much less held their hand while in the hallway — but it really wasn’t much, aside from the fact that Sicheng was undoubtedly infatuated with Yuta.

“You were holding hands? You were pretty close to each other too. You don’t even like him?” Jaehyun asked incredulously as he pulled out three packages of Halloween pretzels from his bag, passed them out to the group, then got one out for himself. 

“We were close because the hall was crowded, that’s all.” Ignoring Jaehyun’s last question, Sicheng tore open the bag and hoped that his face wasn’t red. He hadn’t thought much of their closeness at the time since he was more focused on their hands, but thinking back on it now made Sicheng’s stomach do backflips. It wasn’t healthy. 

“But you didn’t answer the last part.” Johnny said through a mouthful of pretzels. Kun gave him a look of mild disgust, and Johnny just shrugged in response. 

“I don’t.” Sicheng blurted out. Oh, if he hadn’t been blushing before, he definitely was now. 

“You do!” Jaehyun exclaimed, eyes widening at Sicheng’s embarrassment. “You ten out of ten do! Oh my god, Sichengie has a crush!” The boys at the tables next to theirs looked at them with appalled eyebrows (not because of the crush, because Jaehyun was loud), and Jaehyun sent them a ‘sorry’ with a very unapologetic smile. They rolled their eyes, somewhat used to Jaehyun’s antics, and went back to their conversation. 

“Anyways, who’s the mystery guy and when’d you two meet?” Kun asked. He looked innocent, but Sicheng knew that Kun was probably planning to make Yuta’s life a living hell in case he hurt Sicheng. 

“His name’s Yuta, and we met on Friday night.” Sicheng noticed how Johnny’s eyebrows raised at his words. “What?” 

“Nothing. Just Yuta is a little strange. I’m sure you two are a good fit though.” Johnny replied. 

“How do you know him?” Sicheng asked, after Johnny replied with ‘we went to the same middle school’, Sicheng continued. “Anyways, yeah, he’s a little weird, but we still get along okay. But I don’t like him!” Sicheng insisted, and much to his chagrin, none of his friends looked like they believed him. 

Kun, ever the communicator, spoke up. “If you don’t like him, then why have you been so flustered this entire time?” It was a reasonable question, but Sicheng choked on air, not knowing what to say. “See? You do!”

“I don’t! I just met him!” Sicheng slammed his head into the desk out of exasperation. Thankfully, the rest of class was too focused on their own conversations or work to pay much attention to them. 

“So you could in the future.” Jaehyun’s smirk was audible through his voice, and Sicheng weakly raised his arm and smacked his best friend. Jaehyun just laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes.” 

“Leave me alone.” Sicheng grumbled. 

“How did you guys meet? I thought you had to give out candy on Friday?” Johnny asked, and Sicheng sighed, picking his head up just enough to get his arms under it. 

“I was. He was dressed like a fucking horseshoe crab, and I guess we just started talking?” Sicheng explained. Kun huffed out a noise of disbelief, while Jaehyun and Johnny dissolved into laughter. 

“A horseshoe crab? You’ve got to be kidding me!” Jaehyun wheezed, slapping Johnny’s shoulder, who was shaking as he threw his head back in unadulterated glee.

“This is what I meant by weird,” Johnny cackled. “He’s just a wild card.”

“He was with other people. I think their theme was sea animals?” Sicheng said. “There was a shrimp, a crab, a lobster, and a fish. So it wasn’t that weird in the grand scheme of things. It was just unique.”

“Unique is certainly a word to describe it. I know a lot of people who don’t even know what a horseshoe crab is.” Kun stated, tapping away at his phone for something. “Hey, Sicheng, do you know Yuta’s last name?”

“No?” Sicheng tried looking at Kun’s screen, but Kun pulled it out of Sicheng’s sight.

“It’s Nakamoto.” Johnny had stopped laughing enough to reply to Kun. Kun hummed and his eyes went back to his phone. “What’re you doing?” 

“Stalking.” Sicheng thought his eyes would pop out of his head. 

“Why are you stalking?” Sicheng whined exasperatedly and reached across the desks to grab Kun’s phone, Kun instantly backing away from Sicheng’s reach. 

“I have to know if he’s good enough for you.” Kun replied simply, and Sicheng groaned. 

“You don’t have to worry about that!” Sicheng made a final lunge for Kun’s phone, and when he still didn’t get it, he fell back into his seat, huffing. 

“I do, in fact, have to worry. You are my child and I have to make sure that you’re not falling for some crusty het.” Kun stated, letting out a noise of accomplishment immediately after. “I found him!”

“How do you know it’s him?” Jaehyun leaned onto Kun’s shoulder to look at the phone. “Oh, that’s him, alright. That’s a clapped username. The fuck was he thinking?” 

“Damn.” Kun breathed out, and Johnny laughed at Kun’s reaction.

“I know right? I wasn’t really friends with him, but seeing how he glowed up over the summer and probably for the next four years, I’m kind of regretting it.” 

Jaehyun punched Johnny's shoulder. “Shallow ass.” 

“No, I mean he used to seem to hate any sort of interaction that wasn’t with Taeil, Doyoung, or Taeyong, so I just never talked to him. I think he got a lot more social since eighth grade,” Johnny explained. “And a lot better looking.” Jaehyun whacked Johnny again.

“What? Just because I don’t feel sexual attraction to anyone doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the sights.” Johnny laughed after pretending to be hurt. “But don’t worry, Sicheng. I would never try to steal your man from you.”

“He’s not my man.” Sicheng said. 

“Well, if you don’t want him, then I’ll take him. Hot damn.” Kun chuckled through his hand. Something about that just didn’t sit well with Sicheng, which was stupid, because he had had a total of two conversations with Yuta and didn’t have a right to try and hog him. If Kun wanted to pursue Yuta, then Sicheng would have to be happy for his friend, because it wasn’t like he liked Yuta, no sir. 

Jaehyun’s laugh snapped Sicheng out of his thoughts. “You look so concerned, Sicheng. You good?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Sicheng replied instantly. 

“Thinking about Kun’s point earlier,” Johnny tapped his cheek with his forefinger. “there is a chance that Yuta is, in fact, a crusty het.” 

He had a point. Sicheng really didn’t know anything about Yuta. “This is why I’m not saying I like him. We’re basically strangers.” 

“Then don’t be strangers.” Jaehyun shrugged, with a ‘what’s the worst that can happen’ look on his face. 

“You make it sound so easy.” Sicheng rolled his eyes. 

“Cause it is. You just suck at social interaction. Damn gamers.” Jaehyun shook his head in mock disappointment until Johnny said ‘you’re a gamer too, Jae’, and Jaehyun clicked his tongue. “I’m not as hardcore as Sicheng.”

“But, Jae, you said that these two were holding hands, right? What strangers hold hands with each other?” Kun asked, pointing at Sicheng.

“I’m guessing that Yuta was the one to grab onto his hand. Although, we don’t really know anything. Care to elaborate, Sicheng?” Jaehyun wiggled his eyebrows at Sicheng, who huffed with his arms crossed over his chest. 

“I will not. Can we just drop this?” Sicheng said, and the rest of them shrugged. 

“Alright, I guess. But only until lunch.” Johnny grinned at the thought of being to tease Sicheng even more, and Sicheng wanted to die a little more. At least they respected his boundaries. A little bit. 

[¬º-°]¬

At the beginning of the year, Kun, Jaehyun, Sicheng, and Ten had bothered their counselors to death until they all got the same lunch (Johnny coincidentally had the same lunch as them, they met because Ten had been about to pick a fight with him for walking slow). That wasn’t working in Sicheng’s favor right now, because his friends had decided to spend the first ten minutes of lunch stalking Yuta’s Instagram and trying to find his Snapchat as well. 

When Sicheng thought he was about to go crazy, he got a text from Taeil, asking what lunch Sicheng had. Sicheng replied instantly, hoping that maybe Taeil had the same lunch and could save Sicheng from Ten, Johnny, and Jaehyun’s teasing smiles, and was disappointed when Taeil said he didn’t. But his disappointment was taken away by Taeil saying that Yuta, Doyoung, and Taeyong were there. 

Sicheng looked up from his phone to look for the seafood group (that’s what he had mentally started calling them) and could see Taeyong’s fiery red hair a few tables away. It wasn’t just him who had noticed it though. Looking back at his friends, Sicheng followed Johnny’s gaze to the table that Sicheng had just been looking at. _Quite interesting._

He didn’t see Yuta or Doyoung though. Lunch had started ten minutes ago. Where could they be, and why would they leave Taeyong alone? Should he go keep Taeyong company? He felt a little bad just watching Taeyong sit by himself. 

Taeyong’s gaze was wandering, and before long, he locked eyes with Sicheng. He waved with a smile, and Sicheng returned the gesture. Leaving his food and telling his friends that he’d be right back, Sicheng stood up to walk over to Taeyong. Taeyong moved his backpack off of the seat next to him to make room for Sicheng, and Sicheng sat down gratefully.

“Where are Doyoung and Yuta?” Sicheng asked.

“Mrs. Park kept them behind for throwing paper darts into the ceiling.” Taeyong replied. “They’ll be here in a little bit. How was your weekend?” Taeyong asked as he ate a sweet potato fry. 

“It was good. I got to stay inside the entire time. What about you?”

“Good. We ritually burned a friend’s costume and then slept for almost 24 hours from a sugar crash.” Taeyong shrugged as if that was a regular thing to do over the weekend. 

“T-That’s cool?” Sicheng didn’t really know what to say to that. The sugar crash he could understand, but the ritual burning… “Why did you have to burn it?”

“He was dressed as his evil step dad and the costume was made of the shitbag’s clothes. We also had to spiritually cleanse him,” Taeyong explained, almost smiling at the memory. “So all in all, a pretty regular weekend.” 

Pretty regular Sicheng’s ass. 

“If that’s a regular weekend, I’m a bit scared to know what your eventful weekends are like.” Sicheng chuckled nervously. Maybe the seafood group was a group that Sicheng shouldn’t get too involved with. 

“It’s a joke. You don’t have to be so scared, Sicheng,” Taeyong was now laughing at Sicheng, and Sicheng sighed in relief. “Did you need something?”

“Ah, not really, I just saw you were alone and figured I should talk to you. Also, do you know Johnny?” Curiosity had been in the back of Sicheng’s mind since he saw Johnny staring at Taeyong. 

“Johnny Suh?” Sicheng nodded. “I guess? I managed the basketball team during eighth grade, and we talked a little bit, but I wouldn’t call ourselves friends. Why?” 

“He was looking at you, so I was wondering if maybe there was something between you two.” Sicheng replied. 

“Ha!” Taeyong let out a huff. “I wish. That dude is hot as fuck. Wait, is he a het?” Taeyong looked visibly disturbed at the possibility that Johnny was straight, and Sicheng quirked an eyebrow. “Not that there’s anything wrong with being straight!” He quickly clarified with his hands up. 

“That’s probably a question that you should save for him, since I don’t know for sure either.” Sicheng shrugged. There were some times when Johnny did seem a little suspicious, but Sicheng didn’t want to assume. But he also said earlier that he didn’t feel sexual attraction towards anyone… bottom line, Sicheng didn’t know. 

“Oh, okay. If you don't mind me asking, what about you? Are you…” Taeyong flicked his wrist and displayed his nails, and Sicheng understood immediately.

“Yeah, I am. I'm guessing you are too?” Taeyong nodded.”What about—”

Sicheng didn't get to finish his sentence thanks to his shoulders suddenly being grabbed and shaken, scaring the shit out of him. After he made sure his heart was still in his chest, he whipped around angrily to see a laughing Yuta. All the annoyance seeped out of Sicheng’s body instantly as Yuta calmed down enough for Sicheng to see the mirth in his eyes. 

“Sorry, Sicheng, I had to.” Yuta didn't sound very sorry, but Sicheng didn't have it in him to be mad. How could anyone be mad at someone so full of good vibes? 

Doyoung walked to the other side of the table and plopped his backpack on the ground. “Hiya, Sicheng. Fancy seeing ya here “

“I was worried because Taeyong was alone, but now that you guys are here, I guess I can go back to my table.” Sicheng stood up from his seat, ready to leave, and even though Yuta’s puppy eyes almost convinced him to stay a little longer, Sicheng knew that he was in for enough teasing as is. “See you guys later.” 

“Wait, Sicheng, give us your number first. Or your Instagram, whichever works.” Doyoung said, and Sicheng could see the way that Yuta lit up like a lantern.

“That’s fine,” Sicheng pulled up his Instagram account and held it out for the three to get on their own phones. “but why?”

“Jaehyun is hot but I can’t talk to him, so I’m gonna get a mutual friend.” Doyoung tapped at his phone, and Sicheng got a notification saying ‘doyng_x201 has requested to follow you’. 

“I’m not going to argue with you,” Sicheng wasn’t about to argue with the facts. “Are you okay if I tell him that you said that?”

“Yeah, I guess, but if he’s weird about it, then say it was a joke.” Doyoung replied, and Yuta nodded as two more requests came in from ‘taaeyxng_lee’ and ‘yuu_taa_1026’. 

“You guys have some clapped usernames.” Jaehyun hadn’t been lying about Yuta’s username. Sicheng was about to be mildly disgusted, but he remembered Ten and Kun’s handles, which were equally as weird. 

“We were in middle school, give us a break. Anyways, thank you for your service, see you later.” Doyoung waved Sicheng away, and after a brief goodbye to the trio, Sicheng went back to his friends, whose sniggers were poorly concealed behind their palms. 

“Was that Yuta?” Ten was on the verge of actually bursting out into giggles, his body trembling with a barely controlled fit of laughter. “The one who scared you?” 

“Yes, that was Yuta. Leave me alone.” Sicheng grumbled as he sunk into his chair. 

“That is never going to happen.” Jaehyun said with an evil grin. 

“I’ll tape your mouths shut and throw you in the basement. Sangwoo type beat.” Sicheng threatened, although he knew that would never happen. The only person he had any hope of beating in strength was Ten. 

“Yeah, whatever you say. So, tell us more.” Johnny leaned on the table, using his elbow as support and resting his chin on his wrist. 

“I already told you, we met and started talking. We’ve literally had two conversations, I don’t know anything about him.” Sicheng said. How many times did he have to go over this?

“That means you only like him for the looks!” Ten pointed out and took a bite of his orange chicken and rice. 

“I don’t—” Sicheng’s brain tried to find something to defend him, but it failed, so he just repeated himself, but a little louder. “I don’t!” 

“Can you blame him? I mean, look at the dude.” Kun rolled his eyes, and Sicheng found himself looking towards Ten subconsciously. Ten didn’t seem fazed in the least. Sicheng might’ve found it odd, considering the multiple times that Ten had hinted at being interested in Kun, but he also knew that Ten wasn’t the jealous type.

“I don’t.” Sicheng repeated. 

“Go ahead and tell yourself that. I’m sure if you say it enough, then it’ll become true.” Jaehyun said, a look on his face that Sicheng couldn’t describe.

“Oh, totally unrelated, but Johnny, are you straight?” Sicheng asked, and Johnny raised an eyebrow. 

“What do you guys think?” It wasn’t a mean or mocking question, but one of actual curiosity. 

“I don’t know. You said no sexual attraction, so maybe ace?” Kun guessed. 

“But you’re also kind of sus. Maybe asexual homoromantic?” Jaehyun tilted his head, thinking hard. 

“Don’t try using the braincells you don’t have, Jae.” Sicheng couldn’t pass up the opportunity to poke fun at his best friend, and Jaehyun threw a fry at the table right in front of Sicheng with a ‘boo, you whore’. 

“There’s no way that he’s homoromantic. Biromantic maybe.” Ten shook his head as if he couldn’t believe the stupidity of his friends. 

“I’m gonna go with asexual panromantic. Johnny doesn’t seem like the type to discriminate based on gender.” Sicheng said. Johnny was too hippie to only be focused on two genders. 

“Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Congratulations to Mr. Dong!” Johnny hit the edge of the table with his finger with each ‘ding’, and Sicheng’s eyes widened. 

“For real?” Sicheng never thought that he would get it right, although Kun, Jaehyun, and Ten helped lay out the groundwork for his guess. 

“Yeah. Like you said, I don’t discriminate.” Johnny shrugged, piling his trash on his lunch tray. “Trash, anyone?” 

The rest of them put their trash on the tray, but Kun took it away from Johnny before he could get up. “I got it this time, John.” Johnny gave him a grateful look, and then Kun left for the trash can. It was relatively close, only two tables away, and Kun was back in no time. 

“So…” Kun said as he sat down. “You’re ace?” There was no judgement in his voice, even if it seemed like it would be a judgemental question. 

“Yeah. I’m one of the more sex-inclined ones, but I’m still ace,” Johnny replied. “What made you ask, Sicheng?”

“Just wondering. Also totally unrelated, but do you know Taeyong? I think his last name is Lee?” Sicheng asked. Taeyong was a nice guy, and Sicheng wanted to help him out as much as possible. This was simple enough for him to do. 

“Taeyong? Yeah, I know him. We talked in middle school, but not a lot. He’s pretty cute though. You were just talking to him, right?” Sicheng nodded. “Is that what this is about? You trying to play matchmaker?”

“Perhaps,” Sicheng shrugged. “I mean, not actively, but if you’re interested…” Sicheng wiggled his eyebrows at Johnny, who sighed with a roll of his eyes. 

“I appreciate it, but maybe not now.” Johnny huffed out a laugh, and Sicheng nodded. 

“Feel like playing matchmaker for me, Sicheng? Cause I’m pretty sure that I saw Doyoung Kim over there, and _goddamn_ , every time I see him in Algebra 2, I think I’m going to combust because that dude has a sexy ass brain.” Jaehyun smirked at Sicheng, who laughed. 

“You know, he said that you were hot too. Asked for my Instagram so he could have a mutual because he can’t talk to you. His username is as weird as Yuta’s though.” Jaehyun held out his phone, unlocked and on Instagram, and Sicheng took it, typed in Doyoung’s username, and requested to follow him. “Good luck, my dude.”

Jaehyun took his phone back and wrinkled his face out of disgust. “Wait, that username sucks ass. If we get close, I’m making him change it.” 

“Please do. Make them all change it.” Sicheng never wanted to look at those clapped usernames again for as long as he lived. 

[¬º-°]¬

It was the end of the school day when Sicheng saw Yuta again. How he hadn’t seen the seafood gang at all before Friday was a complete mystery, especially with how loud Yuta and Doyoung got. Sicheng actually heard Yuta before he saw him. He was walking to the buses when Yuta poked his back. 

Having heard him coming, Sicheng turned around calmly. “Hi, Yuta. How was your day? We didn’t really talk at lunch.” 

“It was good, other than the paper darts thing. Taeyong said he told you about that,” Sicheng nodded. “What about you?”

“It was okay.” It had been horrible, what with all the teasing and stalking, but Yuta didn’t need to know that.

“What bus are you?” Yuta asked as they made their way outside towards the numerous buses that waited for their students. 

“Bus 12.” Sicheng was calling it, they had the same bus. Fate had certainly been enjoying shoving him and Yuta together lately. 

“Oh my god, no way! How have I never seen you before when you’re literally everywhere?” Yuta gaped, his eyes looking incredibly concerned, but still so kind that it made Sicheng’s heart flutter a little. 

“I could ask you the same question. But at least we see each other a lot more now, right?” Sicheng’s mind didn’t register the words that left his mouth until Yuta grinned. 

“Oh ho! If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were flirting with me right now.” Yuta nudged Sicheng with his shoulder as they walked to their bus.

“Would it be a problem if I was?” It wasn't often that Sicheng had confidence in talking to his crushes, but just looking at Yuta’s carefreeness made him feel a little braver than normal.

“Not really. I might even flirt back.” Yuta winked now, and blood rushed to Sicheng’s face. So much for being confident. 

“Unless it makes you uncomfy, then I’ll shut up.” Yuta shook his head and held up his hands as they climbed the stairs of the bus. 

“No, it’s okay.” Sicheng shook his head, and Yuta beamed and then looked forward. 

“Hi, Mr. Kim! How was your day?” Yuta greeted the bus driver with some sort of familiarity, and Sicheng wondered if Yuta made friends with everyone he knew. 

“It was good, Yuta. What about you? I see you have a new friend.” The bus driver replied, nodding in Sicheng’s direction. Sicheng bowed in greetings to the man that he had never bothered talking to before now. 

“Mine was good! This is Sicheng! Sicheng, this is Mr. Kim. He’s a really good driver.” Yuta moved into the seats right behind Mr. Kim’s driver seat, and he patted the empty spot next to him for Sicheng. Sicheng sat down, taking off his backpack.

“I know he’s a good driver. I fall asleep all the time.” Sicheng said quietly, so as to not let Mr. Kim hear him. Yuta laughed at that. 

“Of course you’d fall asleep, Sicheng. But isn’t it dangerous to fall asleep on the bus?” Yuta asked, and Sicheng shrugged. 

“I mean, I haven’t been killed, robbed, or missed my stop yet.” Sicheng said, getting out his Airpods and offering one to Yuta. “Want one?”

“Sure.” Yuta replied, his eyes folding into crescents. How could someone be so happy all the time? 

Yuta put the Airpod in his ear, and Sicheng pressed play on one of his most frequented playlists. The happy electronic beat of ‘Everyday I Love You’ filtered into Sicheng’s ears. He closed his eyes to take in the full feeling of the song, and everything around him seemed to fade away. It was nice, sitting next to Yuta, who didn’t try talking to Sicheng, his closed eyes a sign for everyone to leave him alone. 

Four songs after, and Sicheng opened his eyes to see Yuta staring out the window. As if he could sense that Sicheng was more willing to hold a conversation, Yuta turned around. 

“Hey there. You look kind of tired.” Yuta said, concern filling his eyes that had been twinkling with excitement just a second before. 

Sicheng _was_ fucking tired, having had to deal with twice the amount of bullshit than he usually did, but he tried his best to wipe his exhaustion from his face so that he could see Yuta smile again. Was that weird?

“Just a little bit. But it’s okay. I can talk to you if you want.” Sicheng turned the volume down enough so that he didn’t need to strain to understand what Yuta was saying. 

“You sure?” Sicheng nodded. “Okay then… You’re the last stop, right?” 

“Second to last. Do you live in the same area?” Sicheng asked. 

“Yep.” Yuta replied, popping the ‘p’. “A few streets down though. Insane how we’ve never met.” 

“I know. Better late than never, I guess.” They fell into silence after that. Not an awkward silence, but more like where they tried to think of what to talk about next. 

“When’s your birthday?” Yuta asked. 

“October 28th. Yours is the 26th, I’m guessing.” Sicheng said, and Yuta’s eyebrows shot up.

“How’d you know?” Yuta gaped. Sicheng found himself laughing at Yuta’s over the top reaction. 

“Your username has ten twenty-six in it, and you just look like a Scorpio, I guess.”

“Is that a good thing? Looking like a Scorpio?” Yuta’s eyes were wide, like he was a baby kitten learning about the wonders of the world for the first time. It made Sicheng feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

“It’s not a bad thing necessarily… It was just the vibe I got. You look a lot better than most Scorpios I meet though. Maybe because you actually have a good personality.” Sicheng said that like he wasn’t a Scorpio himself. 

“I don’t think my star sign has much to do with that,” Yuta giggled into his hand. “You look a lot better than most people I meet, period.” 

Sicheng’s face flushed at the compliment, mumbling a ‘thank you’. Yuta smiled happily, rocking back and forth in his seat with his ankles crossed. 

“Oh! Since I’m older than you, that means I can boss you around!” Yuta snapped his head to look at Sicheng, and as much as Sicheng wanted to protest, he didn’t want to take any of the stars away from Yuta’s eyes. 

“I guess. What do you need from me?” Sicheng didn’t really know what to expect, because nothing about Yuta seemed conventional. Not his ideas for a costume, not his overwhelming beauty, not his endless cheerfulness. He really could ask anything of Sicheng, but it’s not like Sicheng had it in him to refuse whatever Yuta wanted. 

“Your number.” Yuta held out his phone, open to a new contact, and Sicheng resigned himself to his fate of being with Yuta, taking the phone with a sigh, although he was pretty sure there was a smile on his face. 

“What are you going to do with my number?” Sicheng couldn’t stop himself from asking. 

“Maybe get to know you a little more. Maybe ask you out. The future is full of possibilities.” Yuta leaned back in his seat as if he had said something normal. Sicheng was absolutely certain that if this went on any longer that he would burst into flames right here. 

“You’re so incredibly straightforward.” Sicheng breathed out, finishing putting in his contact information and giving Yuta his phone back. 

“I’ve been told. Better than beating around the bush.” Yuta didn’t sound remorseful or sheepish at all, and Sicheng wondered if he could ever have that amount of self-confidence. 

“What if I rejected you? You weren’t thinking about how weird things could be?” 

“Well, are you going to reject me?” Yuta’s eyes widened, the smile falling off his face. 

“No, absolutely not.” Sicheng shook his head frantically. 

Yuta relaxed again at that. “Well then, I don’t have to worry.” 

“You’re insane.” Sicheng scoffed with no real bite in his voice. 

“But for some reason, you still like me.” Yuta smirked, nudging Sicheng’s shoulder repeatedly. 

“For some reason. I’ll never understand why.” Sicheng shook his head again, but patted Yuta’s hand, which had found a spot in the space between the two. Yuta caught Sicheng’s hand in his before Sicheng could retract it, and although the heat returned to his face with the intensity of fifty middle aged white football fans, Sicheng didn’t try to tear it away.

“I’m really glad I met you, Sicheng. Even if I don’t know much about you, I keep getting this vibe that you’re a really good person.” Yuta spoke quieter now, and although his smile wasn’t as wide as before, the pure bliss in his expression was unmatched in the most dazzling things that Sicheng had seen. It took his breath away, because how someone could feel so much. express it so fully and wholly, and still manage to look like beauty incarnate? There was just no way that Yuta was real. He must be some sort of god. That was the only explanation. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Sicheng could see Yuta looking at him, and Sicheng realized that he should probably say something back. 

“You’re absolutely unreal.” 

Yuta let out a single laugh. “Please tell me that’s a good thing.” 

“It’s the best thing I can tell you at the moment. Maybe I can tell you something better later.” Sicheng smiled at Yuta, hoping that he could get even half of his emotions across as well as Yuta did. He wasn’t good with words, so the least he could do was show Yuta how highly he thought of him. 

**Three months later**

“Really? Right in front of my salad?” Ten scoffed, a disgusted scrunch on his face as Jaehyun put an arm around Doyoung’s shoulder. 

“You’re just jealous you don’t have a sexy brain boyfriend like I do.” Jaehyun stuck his tongue out at Ten, who immediately flipped Jaehyun off. 

“Sexy brain my ass, Mister 79 on an English final.” Taeyong snickered, and Doyoung threw his empty fruit snacks package at him. 

“I already told you, I went through it too fast. I could’ve aced that and you know it.” Doyoung shot back, and Taeil scoffed from next to Taeyong. 

“Go ahead and tell yourself that, Doie.” 

Taeil caught the flying fruit gummy in his mouth. 

Over the past few months, the seafood group and Sicheng’s friends had merged together. Jaehyun and Doyoung had hit it off immediately. Jaehyun had asked Doyoung out within the first two weeks, and it took them a single date to make it official. It was nice, seeing Jaehyun so happy with someone he liked so much. Taeyong and Johnny were just friends, but it was clear from the beginning that both of them were interested in each other (at least to the rest of them. Taeyong and Johnny themselves still remained clueless). 

As for Sicheng and Yuta… well, they had been on a few dates but nothing was official. They were still in the weird talking stage, despite having known they liked each other for three months. But Sicheng wasn’t the type to make the first move. Never was, never will be. And Yuta knew that. So something else must’ve been holding Yuta back, but Sicheng could never figure out what. 

“I can’t fucking believe this.” A tray slammed down on the table next to Sicheng. He would’ve flinched if the tray wasn’t a cheap cardboard and made noise. 

“What happened now?” Sicheng asked, and Yuta yanked the chair out and plopped himself down in it with a huff. 

“Mrs. Park told me to get my grade in Bio up, or else she’ll ban sticky notes from the classroom for good.” Yuta grumbled, and Sicheng patted his back. 

“Hey, Yuta, you better not get them banned, or else I’m coming for your stupid ass,” Doyoung barked from across the table. “I’m not going to go through withdrawal just because you can’t focus.”

“I’m trying my best, damn. Leave me alone.” Yuta said, sighing and staring at his curly fries, that were not interesting enough for the amount of attention he was giving them.

“You never mentioned struggling in Bio.” Sicheng noted, to which Yuta shrugged. 

“Never thought it was important.” 

“You know that Sicheng’s best subject is Bio, right?” Kun asked as he sat down next to Ten. Ten was instantly snatching the carton of chocolate milk off of Kun’s tray, and Kun just sighed and ruffled Ten’s hair exasperatedly. 

Yuta shook his head. “We never really talked about our grades. Right? My memory isn’t just bad?” He looked at Sicheng for confirmation, and Sicheng nodded. 

“Right. But I can tutor you if you want.” 

“I’d say take the offer, Yuta. Sicheng got my Algebra grade from a 55 to an 86 within two months, and math is one of his weakest subjects. I didn’t even have to cheat, and I’m fucking stupid. Dude is a kick ass teacher.” Ten said. 

“I’m not that good, you were just too lazy to study without me breathing down your neck.” Sicheng clarified. Ten was a lot smarter than he thought he was. Sicheng didn’t contribute anything other than help sessions every few days and studying tips. 

“Yeah, yeah, details.” Ten waved Sicheng off, and Sicheng rolled his eyes.

“You could help me?” Yuta looked at Sicheng with wide and hopeful eyes, the same ones that had Sicheng’s heart fluttering even three months later. 

“Of course I could.” Yuta beamed at Sicheng’s answer, and a content breath found its way out of Sicheng’s mouth. What he wouldn’t give to see that smile everyday. 

[¬º-°]¬

The next day, Sicheng found himself in front of a new house in a strange neighborhood, box of chocolates in hand. His parents had refused to let him go to Yuta’s house without some sort of gift, and it kind of reminded Sicheng of how they met, with Yuta just wanting chocolate. 

He rang the doorbell and waited a minute before he heard the lock click, and the door opened, revealing Yuta in a very loose white shirt and gray sweatpants. _Not the gray sweatpants, not the gray sweatpants._ Sicheng almost wished he was hallucinating, but maybe if he just focused on Yuta’s smile for the rest of the evening. Sicheng looked at Yuta’s ecstatic expression and thought ‘Yeah. I’ll just focus on his face’. Nothing could ever compare to Yuta’s stars, especially not the cursed gray sweatpants. 

“Come on in! My parents are getting home a little later. What’d you bring?” Yuta stepped aside for Sicheng to walk through the door. 

“Chocolate. Taeyong said that you really like caramel chocolate, so I tried getting that.” Sicheng said as he took his shoes off. 

“That’s great. He really does know everything about me. Are you hungry?” Yuta asked, and Sicheng shook his head. 

“I ate a little before coming over.” 

“Okay then. I’ll put them away. You want anything to drink?” Yuta took the box from Sicheng’s hands, and Sicheng replied ‘no, I’m okay’. “Alright, you can go up to my room. It’s the second right. You’ll probably be able to tell that it’s mine.”

Sicheng nodded, although he knew that Yuta wouldn’t be able to see it, and he went up the stairs. He followed Yuta’s instructions, and the room was so incredibly… Yuta.

There were numerous anime posters and manga panels on the wall, and one side of the bed was covered in clothes and the other was covered in stuff that most people would put on a desk. The desk was almost bare aside from a laptop and a desktop, and Sicheng saw the headphones he had gotten Yuta for Christmas plugged into his computer. The desktop definitely looked like good shit. Sicheng was fairly sure that it was an Alienware Aurora. Yuta had mentioned being into gaming, but Sicheng didn’t know it was to the extent that he would get such a high-quality computer. 

Sicheng decided to be a decent human being and not snoop around anything else, sitting down on one of the chairs that was in front of the desk and getting out his Bio notebook. Yuta’s room was definitely neater than he was expecting from a boy of their age. It was neater than Sicheng’s for sure. Other than the mess on his bed and the chaos on the walls, it was fairly tidy.

“Sorry I took so long.” Yuta entered the room and flopped onto his seat. 

“It’s okay. So, what exactly are you struggling with?” Sicheng asked, and Yuta groaned. 

“Everything.” 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” 

[¬º-°]¬

Two hours later, and Sicheng thought he had done pretty well. Yuta was no longer confused on the different parts of animal and plant cells and their functions, and that was pretty good, considering the time frame. Once Sicheng confirmed that Yuta no longer needed help on that part, Yuta stretched out like a cat, moaning and cracking his neck. 

“Break time!” Sicheng rolled his eyes, but he knew that Yuta had been working really hard, so he let it slide. “You want a snack?” 

“Sure.” Sicheng shrugged. A little food wouldn’t hurt, right? 

“Any special requests?” Sicheng shook his head, and Yuta nodded in affirmation. “Okay, I’ll be right back. Unless you want to come downstairs and watch me try to navigate the pantry.” 

Sicheng smiled and waved Yuta away, leaving him alone in the room. He got out his phone on instinct to check his notifications. Seeing about a million texts from Ten, Jaehyun, and Johnny, Sicheng grimaced, deciding that he would not go through them until he was at home. He scrolled through his Instagram feed until Yuta came back with three boxes of Pocky, two chocolate and one strawberry. 

“I didn’t know which flavor you like, so I just got one of each.” Yuta put a box of chocolate on his side of the desk and held the other two out for Sicheng. Sicheng took the strawberry one, and Yuta pushed the last box of chocolate against the desktop. 

“Ten minute break.” Sicheng said, and Yuta whooped. 

“God bless your soul, Sicheng.” Yuta grabbed Sicheng’s hand and kissed the back of it. Sicheng laughed at Yuta’s reaction, but his stomach had suddenly started churning. The feeling didn’t subside as he opened his Pocky and began eating, and although Sicheng knew full well what was going on, he didn’t want to do anything about it. It would be too awkward, too much for Sicheng to deal with. 

About five minutes of silent munching passed before Yuta spoke up. 

“Hey, Sicheng?” 

“Yeah?”

“What are we?” 

The question took Sicheng off guard, even though he had wanted to ask the same thing just a few minutes earlier. He gathered his wits in record time though. 

“What do you want to be?” 

Yuta turned to look Sicheng in the eyes, and the look in them was so different than usual. Rather than the regular twinkling stars and excitement, there was nothing but passion and finality in them. It was a nice change, but Sicheng would forever love the stars. 

“I want to be your boyfriend.” 

“Then be my boyfriend.” Sicheng put his Pocky box on the desk and leaned closer to Yuta. 

“You sure? I can get pretty annoying sometimes.” Yuta chuckled at that, but Sicheng shook his head and took Yuta’s hand into his. 

“I am absolutely sure.” 

Yuta seemed to melt a little bit before closing the distance between them to less than an inch. Sicheng would’ve been a little flustered if he hadn’t been wishing for them to be in this position for a few months. 

“C-Can I kiss you?” Yuta asked tentatively, and Sicheng didn’t say anything, and let his actions speak for him. 

**Author's Note:**

> Stan Loona for clear skin and stream Everyday I Love You haha
> 
> twt/cc : aestia5


End file.
